Recollection
by darklight1735
Summary: (Sequel to Reason For Demise) The Dark Mage, Zeref, is setting his plans in motion. Fairy Tail suffers still from the loss of their beloved ice mage. Still left to live once the ice alchemist is gone, the Fairy Tail mages continue in their friend's footsteps. More importantly, who is the unknown figure with no memories of his past and identity.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Fairy Tail. So here's the first chapter of the sequel to Reason for Demise. It's extremely short but it's the starting point. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Are the preparations ready?"

The Dark Mage cast down a look onto the kneeling figure in front of him. The figure nodded eagerly, a man Zeref believed to be named Eckhart answered. "Just awaiting your orders sire."

Zeref sighed in annoyance. "It's a pity really. If he had survived he would have been an excellent candidate. However," the Dark Mage sent a glance back to the man, "you will have to do."

Death magic swarmed around the dark mage. Without warning he sent it towards the man, ending him a blink of an eye.

Zeref prodded now slumped over corpse of the man. It was really the only thing the man could offer him. All the mages throwing themselves at him were useless. It was their empty, soulless, bodies he need. Sending a wave of his own magic Zeref granted the body part of his own power.

The man's body twitched a few times. Slowly it moved upwards, back into a kneeling position. "On your orders, sire." Zeref nodded and released the man from his presence.

He smiled as the plan was set in motion. True he had lived for hundreds of years. The dark mage was the strongest of the strong. But his body didn't age as well as his mind. If he didn't perform a soul transplant his own body will soon become too weak. His own magic would end up destroying him.

_Just think,_ the dark mage thought smugly,_ I could have used you after all._

* * *

"Would you be quiet!" Lucy snapped.

Natsu froze, midway throughout the punch he was about to send to Elfman. The fire mage heard the other mumble something along the lines, 'it's not man to make a girl frustrated.' The white haired male left, leaving the fire mage alone with the celestial wizard.

Lucy returned back to the book she'd been reading. Natsu muttered something like a 'sorry' and sat down at the bar next to her, boredom written across his face. The blonde couldn't help but feel guilty for making the dragon slayer look gloomy. Course he often looked gloomy for a time now, having lost his rival a few months back.

Erza munched on a piece of strawberry cake as she observed her friends. _Perhaps I should challenge Natsu_. She began thinking. _It would certainly take his mind of things for a while._ The overall mood in the guild had almost returned to normal. Or at least as normal as it could be without their beloved ice mage. The ice alchemist's death was still very much a sore topic for the any of the guild members.

Erza was about to say something to the fire dragon slayer when Happy flew to the fire mage.

"Natsuuuuuu," The feline sang. "I found a request." The cat waved a partly crumpled paper before the fire mage.

"Alright! Let's go!" Natsu grabbed the paper from Happy. "Oi, Mira, we'll be going now."

The white haired barmaid gave him a warm smile. "Good luck."

"Did you even bother to read to request?" Lucy sighed.

"Nope." The dragon slayer grabbed Lucy's wrist and dragged the blonde to the guild doors. Erza followed, Happy along beside her.

Makarov watched as his children left the guild, silently wishing them the best and their safe return. The sudden death of the ice mage hadn't left the old man without a scar. He still felt a stab of pain when he thought how young the mage was. It had seemed like just yesterday when a small, raven haired child had walked through the guild doors up to the old man, asking about reversing iced shell.

"What's wrong, Master?" Mirajane spoke from behind the counter, seeing the down look on Makarov's face.

The elder man sighed sorrowfully. "How I wish I knew. Just something in my bones are telling me to hold my breath very soon."

The white haired barmaid looked at the old man in both surprise and concern. It wasn't often the Master was wrong when it came to hunches. A sickening feeling appeared in Mira's stomach. If Master was worried, what should the guild members be?

* * *

A lone figure slept peacefully under the shady branch of blooming tree. Groggily, he opened his eyes to a blinding sunlight, the tree's shadow not completely sheltering him from the bright beams. Sluggishly, he moved into a sitting position, glancing around himself in wonderment.

The place was an unfamiliar mystery to him. Searching his memory he came up for the reason why he was there, only to come up empty. Now that he thought about, he couldn't think of a reason on why he couldn't think of reason.

Curiously, the figure searched his memory, looking for any remembrance of anything.

Minutes later the figure gave up and once looked around, this time at himself, seeing if it would jog his memory to his identity. He found his body was completely barren of clothing. The only thing that was currently visible for him to see was an x shaped scar on his lower abdomen.

Sighing, he pushed himself up from the grassy ground. Maybe someone near here could tell him who he was.


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Stop squirming already, this was your fault anyway."

Natsu flinched as Lucy put another bandage on his open wound. "How was I supposed to know he had a weapon?"

"You look." The blonde gritted through clenched teeth. The dragon slayer had also managed to destroy half a factory, making their award money become useless as it went to repair cost.

"I think Natsu did well." Happy spoke up.

"Yes, but you're a cat. Your decisions don't weigh much." Happy pouted at Lucy's words.

"Regardless, at least the mission was a success." The scarlet wizard spoke up.

"Some success," Lucy murmured, "there goes my rent."

* * *

A figure stumbled through the thick vegetation. Branches and thorns whipped at his unprotected skin as he moved onward. Though his memory still was missing from his blank mind, he had enough sense to know to look for civilization for help. With any luck someone wherever he was headed would recognize him.

Pushing past the branches in front of him a small house started to become visible past the green. Hope started to bloom within him at the thought of someone there being able to help him. He made his way to the home when a surprised yelp met his ears. Quickly turning around he spotted an elderly woman shielding her eyes from him.

The figure stood there for a moment, confused on why the woman reacted the way she did. Realization hit him as he looked down at his naked form.

* * *

"Back already?"

Mira looked at the group now coming in through the guild doors. Lucy nodded. "Natsu wrecked everything, we got kicked out after we finished." The white haired bartender laughed at that. That was just like the dragon slayer. Makarov felt his heart plummet. A letter from the council would no doubt soon arrive about this.

"They had it coming, right Natsu-nii" Romeo decalred.

The pink haired mage grinned. "Yep, there's no way I would let anyone get away with something."

Lucy dropped her head on the bar counter in defeat. There was no getting throught that head of his. The scarlet watched as her friends bickered. "Honestly, have you ever not gone overboard?" Lucy mumbled something about Erza being at fault too.

Makarov chuckled at his children. Something told him he was about to be sent a large amount of letters from the council regarding the actions of the guild.

* * *

"This looks about your size." The old woman tossed the young man another piece of clothing. He mumbled a thank you and put the shirt over his bare shoulders. The woman had been kind enough to clothe him, though he felt like he didn't usually wear clothes. "Now, what you doin' here, sonny?"

The teen shrugged. "I'm not sure. I don't even know where 'here' is."

The old woman snorted in annoyance. "What do you know?"

"Nothing." The old lady sighed in vexation. "I was hoping there would be someone in a town who knew who I was."

"You don't know anything?"

"No."

"Well you know how to talk."

The figure didn't reply. He did retain a basic knowledge, though of little importance. "Is there a town near here?"

The old lady nodded. "Some miles that way." She pointed in a direction. "Now tell me, son. Who are you?"

"I honestly don't know."

"I'm not talking about your name." The old lady approached him. "I know a thing or two about magic, and I sense a great deal coming from. Furthermore, if you didn't do something important you wouldn't have been left alone with no memories. Now," the old lady glared at him, "who are you working for?"

"Working for?"

"You expect people to believe you lost your memories and all you were guilty of were picking daisies?"

"I'm sorry, I really don't know."

The old lady snorted again. "Either way, I suggest you wonder around. Maybe someone will recognize you, though you may not want people to."

"Before I go, could you please tell me where I am."

…

The old lady had kicked him out. Her kindness had gone a little further, giving the stranger money for a train ticket. He now made his way through a crowd of people, asking a few if he looked familiar. No luck of finding out his identity surfaced, he remained unnamed.

His hopes of finding help here were dwindling down to nothing. He stood in front of a train board with a world map on it. Having no luck here, he was trying to see if country names brought back memories.

"Can I help you?"

The teen turned around to see a train station worker looking at him. "I'm not sure. Could you tell me how much a train ticket would cost to get here." He pointed to a country on the map.

The worker frowned at that. "Isvan? We don't get many people going in that direction." The questioning figure nodded in understanding, he wasn't sure, but something about the name seemed familiar. "Quite a bit, about two thousand."

He felt his heart drop to his stomach. "Is there any way I could work for a ticket?"

…

"Name?"

"Don't have one."

The train conductor gave him a vexed look. "What do you mean no name?"

"I don't know my name."

The conductor sighed in annoyance. "So you're telling me, you want to work on the train till it arrives in Isvan to pay for your ticket, but you don't have any sort of résumé, qualifications, or a _name?!"_

"Aw come on, have a heart." The head engineer called over. "Let the kid on, he can shovel coal in the engine for me."

The conductor shot the engineer a dirty look for suggesting that. "He won't even tell us his _name._ What went off in your head to make you think we should let him on?"

The engineer shrugged. "He looks like a good kid, besides, my last helper just quit, he can be the replacement."

The conductor mumbled something rather rude under his breath. "Fine, but he's your problem."

The engineer held his hand out and pulled the teen onto the train cart. "You really don't have a name, or do you just want to get under the conductor's skin."

"I really don't have a name."

The engineer grumbled something about that. "Well it's unfit for me to be calling you 'boy' or 'you,' so what you want to go by?"

"I don't know any names to go by."

"In that case, I'll call you by where you want to go. Welcome aboard, Isvan."

* * *

Erza stared in horror at the lying mass on the guild floor. A mixture of pure hatred, rage, and depression enveloped her. "NATSU! YOU"RE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!" The scarlet sent a high kick ti the middle of the dragon slayer's chest.

Natsu reeled back from the force and sent a flaming push at the scarlet. Erza met him with a drawn sword. "Those who commit such crimes shall suffer my wrath!"

Wendy and Lucy hid behind the bar as the guild started another of one of their famous brawls. Happy squeezed between the two, not wanting to become subject of Erza's blind rage. "Luuuuucy," Happy sniveled. "Erza's going to kill Natsu."

The blonde sighed. "Well, he shouldn't have made her drop her cake."

* * *

"Start shoveling again." Isvan got back up from the broken train part h was working on and grabbed a shovel. The engineer seemed nice enough, though working on a train had proven tiring work. The anticipation of someone waiting for him when he arrived at his destination was his motivation.

Whatever awaited him in the snowy, cold, northern country was his ticket to uncovering his past.


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Master."

Makarov looked up as Mira came out one of the back rooms. "Yes?"

"There's a call for you on the communication lacrima."

Makarov heaved a sigh and jumped down from the bar counter. "This better be good." He grumbled.

* * *

Isvan, as he had been named, looked up in start at the red emergency light that had suddenly gone off. The head mechanic on the train muttered a few curses and went to the engine. Isvan heard a few more curses be released from the man. "Shit, this isn't good."

"What's wrong?" Isvan came up behind him to inspect what happened.

"Damn engine overheated."

"Is that a ba-" The raven was cut off as an alarm started to blare.

"That answer your question? This train is near its final leg. Older models like this aren't built well. This engine blows the whole front part of the train comes off." The engineer stood up suddenly. "I'll go warn the conductor. See what you can do."

"I don't know anything about tr-" The engineer exited the cart. _Oh great._ The raven thought._ What am I supposed to do?_

Isvan kneeled down next to the engine door. The heat around the metal was intense in itself. A few coals were beginning to make a popping sound._ That doesn't sound go-_

A deafening explosion came from the engine. Isvan ducked to the ground. Part of the engine cracked and the metal crumbled into the fire. _Oh shit._ Maybe he didn't know much about anything at the moment, but it didn't take a genius to realize the engine need to be cooled immediately.

Without thinking, Isvan stuck his hand into the engine's fire and rested it on the scorching metal. In retrospect, it probably wasn't the best idea. The flames flicked around his pale hand, the hot coals seared his skin.

The heat lasted less than a second. Then the heat just disappeared. The once roaring fire died down to near nothingness. A thin layer of ice spread across the once burning coals.

Isvan blinked at the crystal like water now covering the cooled down engine. Slowly, he retracted his hand from the frozen engine. _Did I do that?_ He wondered, staring at his hand in astonishment. _How did I do that?_

The warning alarm died down. The train cart door slammed open. "What hap-"

The head engineer and conductor stared at the iced engine in surprise. The engine turned to the conductor. "Happy we let him on now?"

* * *

"Erza, can you come in here?"

The scarlet looked up to see Master Makarov waving her over from one of the backrooms. "Why of course, Master." The Titania rose from her seat at the bar and walked over to where the elderly man was waiting.

Master motioned her into the room and hastily closed the door behind her. "Erza, I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't mention any of this to Natsu. This is still a sore spot for him and I don't need him overreacting and going on a rampage."

The scarlet raised an eyebrow but nodded. The fire mage was famous for acting without thinking. The old man sighed, and turned to a communication lacrima. "Good, now let's get started."

* * *

_I think it's this way._

Isvan wondered around the snowy landscape. He had long since left the train after it finally arrived at the station. Since then he had wondered around. The town the train station was in didn't seem familiar, so he followed his instincts and walked on foot searching for another town.

The northern country of Isvan was currently under harsh, winter type climate. Snow and ice fell on his pale skin. Oddly enough, he didn't feel cold. The weather was somewhat pleasant. The snow covered land was familiar. Call him nostalgic, but it felt homely.

_Should be up ahead._

Something in his gut told him what he was looking for was on the other side of the hill before him. Excitement bubbled in him as he made his way over the frozen hillock.

Isvan blinked in surprise at what he laid his eyes on. Without meaning to he fell to his knees in defeat. Ruins of a once large town lay crumbled on the ground, covered in snow.

* * *

"You can see the predicament."

Erza nodded to the council member speaking to her through the communication lacrima. "Understood, if that's the case then you can believe we'll take care of it."

"That's the issue. The council wants the aid of Fairy Tail by all means, but with what is still unsure."

"We can send a few mages out to investigate." Makarov spoke up.

"Agreed" the council member assented. "Now on to the next part."

* * *

Isvan rubbed his weary eyes. After visiting the destroyed town he had continued on foot. Late in the night he had arrived in another town, the difference being this one was still an actual town.

"One warm meal." Isvan slid over the money the engineer had given him in thanks to a barmaid in the local pub.

"Sure thing, hon." The murmurs of the pub were near mute to his ears. The barmaid gave him a warm smile as she placed his meal before him. _Now what barmaid do I know with a warm smile?_

The raven pushed the thought side, not like an answer would come to him anyway. He chewed thoughtfully on his meal, thinking of the scene he had seen a few hours earlier. "Excuse me," Isvan turned to two older men drinking in the bar. "Have you two lived here long?"

One of the men scratched his beard in thought. "Long enough, I suppose. Why you ask?"

"Do you know anything about the town ruins a few miles from here?"

The other man scoffed. "Course we do. Who wouldn't know?"

"What happened?"

"Guess it was about… what now? Eighteen, seventeen years past? Doesn't matter. That there town was destroyed years ago by a demon called Deliora."

Isvan felt a shiver run down his spine at that name. "That sounds about right." The second man added. "If I recall, it was pretty devastating. Don't think there were any survivors."

"Thank you." Isvan mumbled, turning back to his meal. _Guess that wasn't part of my life._ Isvan felt mournful at the notion.

* * *

"Natsu, you shouldn't eavesdrop."

"Wait a second Lucy." The dragon slayer leaned an ear against the wooden door of one of the backrooms. Mira, Erza, and Gramps have been in and out of the room since yesterday. The fire mage felt himself twitching at not knowing what they were talking about.

Natsu focused his superb hearing on the conversation happening on the other side of the door. Lucy shuffled from foot to foot. As much as she didn't want to face the wrath of Erza for listening in on a private conversation, her curiosity was becoming the best of her. "What is it?" The blinde asked, unable to restrain herself any longer.

Natsu had a focused look on his face as he listened in. Slowly, his gleeful smirk started to disappear. His face became dark and frightening. "Na- Natsu," The blonde stared at her friend wide eyed in terror. The joyful dragon slayer she knew fading from reality.

Natsu swung around and brought his foot down on the wooden door, kicking it off its hinges. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

* * *

_Something's around here._ Isvan ran a hand through his hair, absorbed fully on the conception something was waiting around here for him to find. He had been able to sweet talk the barmaid to let him sleep in the pub's attic, but that was hours ago. Already, the sun was beginning to set for the second time in this unknown place, and he had nowhere to sleep.

_Could it be over here?_ Isvan turned in another direction and followed his gut feeling. He hadn't expected his trip to look for his past to last hours on end with no avail. _Maybe there's nothing here._

Isvan shuffled through knee high snow, determinedly making his way through the bitter weather. His foot broke through the thin layer of ice atop the snow, contacting on something harder than the frozen ground. Twisting his foot a bit he looked at the hole in the snow he had just formed. There wasn't any frozen vegetation beneath the snow, only dirt.

_A path?_

Isvan cleared the snow around his feet. More brown, frozen dirt crept along the ground. Isvan began dragging his feet across the snow, looking for where it led. What felt like a lifetime, something in the horizon appeared, the path leading to it.

Isvan began to walk at a faster pace, then jog, then broke out into a full sprint. A small home began to appear in the distance. As he got closer he realized it was a log cabin. He felt his heart give a little squeeze. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but the cabin gave a sense of familiarity.


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Sorry the update took so long. Enjoy! **

* * *

Isvan ran a hand over the rough wooden walls of the interior of the cabin. A fine layer of dust had settled over every surface, the sure sign that the home and remained uninhabited for years. Not a piece of furniture had looked to be disturbed since the abandonment of the cabin. The home was just forever waiting for the ones who had once lived here to return.

_Did I live here? _Isvan ran his tired eyes over the room he was in. The sense of the home being recognizing was so overwhelming to the point of suffocating._ Why do I feel there was other people here?_ Isvan couldn't help contemplate the thought.

* * *

"Get OFF of me!"

Natsu squirmed under the combined weight of his guild mates. "Natsu, calm down!" Lucy begged the twisting dragon slayer.

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down!"

The guild's residential scarlet rose menacingly above the boy. "What do you plan on doing?!" Natsu stopped moving as Titania continued on. "No one knows what we're up against. You truly think getting yourself killed will help anything?"

Natsu stopped squirming. "It's not right. He's out there and Gra-"

"I know." Titania kneeled down next to the fire mage. "But rushing into things isn't going to help anyone. If you sincerely want to make Gray's sacrifice mean something you won't jump into the boiling pot."

The fire mage was silent for a time. "Alright… but first sign of where Zeref's cronies are I'm heading out."

* * *

Isvan blinked the sleep out of his eyes. The emptiness of the cabin meet his eyes, illuminated by the soft, morning light coming through a grimy window. A growling from the pit of his stomach woke him up fully. He staggered to his feet. After sleeping away the night in the small cabin he felt reenergized to continue his maybe futile journey.

Stumbling to the doorway, he gave one last, silent goodbye to the cabin before heading back out into the freezing weather. The harsh, frigid wind blew across the frozen landscape, making what he hoped to be a casual amble a daunting task to accomplish.

The idea of how to get wherever he was going nagged at his mind. Ideas formed only to be crushed down. He wanted to get back "home," as soon as possible. But the suggestion that his unknown home was a great distance from here was ever present in his head. Getting a job to pay for a train ticket was out. It would take too long to earn up enough money. Working on another train didn't seem like a possibility. He was lucky to have gotten the last job. He wasn't willing to freely stick his hand in another blazing engine fire to prove he was worker material.

Rubbing a hand over his eyes he groaned in frustration. Why did get to where he belong seem like an impossible task.

…

* * *

"You called?"

Zeref glanced up to see his lackey, Eckhart, standing in the doorway. The dark mage had placed more of his own magic into the soulless man, getting ready for full on body transfer. "Hmm, I suppose I did."

Eckhart bowed on one knee before him, awaiting his orders. "That troublesome guild, Fairy Tail, is about to stir up some trouble for me. Take care of it. However, don't be too serious with them. The last thing I need is for the whole guild to come after me because one or two are dead. Not yet anyway."

The man before him gestured to show he understood the orders. Eckhart rose to his feet and exited the room, heading to the meddlesome guild.

* * *

"Let me get this straight," the man Isvan had directed to his question to gave him a look of what appeared to be him trying to repress his laughter. "You want a job that you can do in less than a day and make a lot of money at it?"

"That would be correct."

The man let out a low chuckle. "Boy, if there was a job like that here don't you think someone would have done that already?" To prove his point he gestured around to the town they were in. People were moving about, making their daily way.

"What about a way to travel. Is there anyone traveling west that will put up with a tag along?"

"Well," the man scratched his beard as he thought. "Think there's a group or something passing through town. Might be heading that way. Ain't sure tho.' Probably gonna have to earn your keep with them. Thin they're thataway." The man pointed a winkled finger in the direction he meant. Isvan muttered a thank you and hurriedly made his way in that direction.

A group of people were sitting on the outskirts of town, loading up a group of wagons pulled by a larger group of ginormous animals. "Excuse me," Isvan jogged up to the group. "Is your group heading west?"

One of the persons loading a wagon looked up as Isvan neared the group. "Depends who's asking?"

"Just someone who needs a ride."

"We don't handle hitchhikers."

"I don't know. We need an extra hand." A boy about what Isvan thought what his age jumped from the wagon onto the snowy ground. "You a hard worker?"

Isvan nodded. "I'll earn my way. I have nothing to pay you with but I'll make up in that with labor."

Another teen jumped down from the loaded wagon. "If you're decent with anything we can use you."

The first man seemed to give the idea some thought. "We're not heading west for long, but long enough, I suppose. You can work on his wagon." He gestured to the first teen. "You do what we ask, you can stay."

Isvan nodded to show his appreciation. He followed the first teen to the wagon. "What's your name kid?"

Isvan felt himself twitch at being called a kid from someone who appeared to be his age. "I go by Isvan."

The teen snorted. "Isvan? No way you're going by that name."

"What's wrong with it?"

"It isn't fitting to have the same name as a country. You can't make a name for yourself like that, you'll always be living in the country's shadow. You go by anything else."

"I don't have a name, so no."

The teen snorted. "No name? Suuuuuuure, more like you don't want to reveal it. Now listen, no one's working in this in this circus with a boring name like that. Get a new one."

Isvan thought about what the teen just said. "You said this is a circus?"

"Yeah, now don't be changing the topic. We'll get to that. Now pick a name."

"How 'bout Raven?" A girl about his age called down from atop the wagon. "It'll match his hair."

Isvan shrugged. "Guess I don't have anything better." In his mind he wondered if he'll adopt a new name every time someone asked. "Now what will I be doing while here?"

* * *

Eckhart gazed across the cobblestone street at a local member of the Fairy Tail guild. The member was a youth of perhaps seventeen years or so. Her short, white hair was tucked behind her ears. Her blue eyes gazed in front of her, across the city of Magnolia. She walked alone, unafraid of the danger lurking so close to her.

The dark mage grinned like a predator that just discovered its prey. Unsuspecting victims were by far the greatest, they weren't aware of the pain about to be inflicting upon them.

Eckhart rose slowly and followed the young girl as she headed towards her guild unescorted. What could be a better warning then showing the guild what to fear?

* * *

"So where you heading to?"

The wagon group had stopped for the night. Giving the animals time to rest for the next few hours. Raven (formally Isvan) sat along with the fellow people who were on the wagon he was assigned to. He too resting, none of the people on the wagon trail ever rested, nor did he during the day. Every time he finished a task there was something else to be done. Whether it was him repairing broken wheels, or a cracked axis on a wagon, he did it gratefully.

Raven shrugged. "I'm not sure. Something just tells me to go west."

"That was specific." One man grunted.

Raven ignored the comment. "Any of you folk know of countries in the west?"

"As I recall," one person spoke up, "there's quite a few: Seven, Iceberg, Bosco, Stella, Fiore, Bell-"

"What was that last one?"

"You mean Fiore? That's a pretty famous country."

"What do you know about it?"

The person shrugged. "Not much, only that wizard guilds are prominent there."

Raven muttered a thank you to the person. _Wizard guilds, huh?_ He mused._ That should be interesting._

* * *

Natsu aimed a strong hit to Gajeel's chin. The iron dragon slayer reeled his arm back to aim a hit at the other's face. Without warning, the black haired male went stiff.

"Oi, Gajeel, don't just stop in the middle of a fight!"

"Shut up Salamander." The iron dragon slayer sniffed the air a few times.

Natsu, rather annoyed with their fight coming to an end, sniffed along with him. The fire mage stiffened at the scent wafting in the air. A sickening feeling blossomed in the pit of his stomach.

"Natsu?" Lucy looked in concern at her friend. The blonde could count on one hand the number of times Natsu actually stopped talking when he was told. "Natsu, are you okay? Wendy," Lucy turned to the blue haired girl, "what's wrong with him?"

Wendy sniffed the air, her brown eyes widened in terror. "Lucy-san, this is-"

"LISANNA!"

Natsu broke from his stiff state and ran forward were a figure was stumbling to the guild door. A scream came from both Mirajane and Elfman as the form of Lisanna staggered into the guild. The girl's knees gave out from under her and she tumbled forward, barely being caught by Natsu.

Lisanna's once pale face was splashed red with both dried and wet blood. Her clothes were torn and ragged as his she had been in a fight. Cut and scrapes covered her body, along her arms and down her legs. Her once white hair was matted with crimson.

Mirajane ran to her sister and took her protectively in her arms, Elfman stood over the two. Weny rushed forward and kneeled down next to the now unconscious girl.

"Happy," The feline looked up at Master Makarov. "Go get Porlyusica. We're going to need her help."

The blue cat nodded at took off from the guild.

* * *

"This should be enough."

Raven looked up at the small pouch a wagon worker was holding. "What is it?"

"You're pay. The manager decide he'll give you a little something extra for working you like a dog since yesterday. Manger isn't too kindly with giving out money. I suggest you take it, it's best you don't insult a gift of his. Raven took the small pouch. "We're not heading any further west than this. Lucky for you, there's a town 'bout a day's walk from here. Train tickets sell cheap here. Best of luck."

Raven nodded his appreciation and departed from the circus group. The carefree attitude of the group and how frequent fights broke out was in some way recognizable to him. _Who knows,_ he mused,_ maybe back home I was as carefree and reckless as some of those guys._ He smiled to himself. Two of the workers he had met had a brotherly rivalry between them, a thing that didn't seem unknown to him.

* * *

"Is she going to be okay?" Mira looked worriedly at her sister's small form lying on a bed in the guild infirmary.

"She'll be fine." Porylusica answered dully. Mira nodded, albeit worry was still in her eyes. Lisanna hadn't woken up since she stumbled into the guild. "This is the most I or Wendy can do. The rest of the healing is for her." The old woman rose to her feet. "I suggest you try to clean her up a bit. The dried blood doesn't need to be on her."

Mira nodded again as the elderly woman left the room. Taking in a deep breath, Mira tried to steady herself as she dipped a clean washcloth into a basin. Dabbing lightly on Lisanna's pale skin she began splotching the crimson covered skin. The younger girl stirred slightly as the cool water dripped down her body.

"Mira…nee."

The younger girl slowly cracked her eyes open at the older sister. Mira smiled down at her. "Shh, just rest for a moment."

Lisanna gave a weak nod and closed her eyes again. Mira continued dabbing the skin till gore of the blood wiped off. Moving onto Lisanna shoulder she continued the process. "Lisanna," Mira spoke up, her eyes trailing on red s squiggles on her back. "Could you turn a bit?"

Lisanna, with Mira's help flipped gently onto her stomach. The back of her shir had been mostly torn, exposing most of her back. Mira looked at the red squiggles on her back. Pulling the ripped shirt away from her sister's skin she let out a horrified gasp.

"Erza," she called, "Could you please come here."

The scarlet, who had been standing outside the door, entered. "What is it?"

Mira pointed a shaking hand to Lisanna's back. Erza eyed the red covered skin. After a moment her eyes widened. The red squiggles taking shape as to what they really were.

* * *

"A one way ticket to Fiore."

Raven slid the money across the counter to the train merchant across from him. The vendor counted the currency and traded the Raven a stiff, ink covered boarding pass. Raven took the ticket from him and moved to the loading platform. On corner of the ticket the name **Clover Town** was printed. The train would take him as far as Fiore's border, no more.

Not that it mattered if he traveled further away. He wasn't sure where he was going after all.

* * *

"What do you think, Master?"

Makarov gave Mira and Erza a pained look. The message hastily scrawled upon Mira's younger sister was troubling the elder man. The threats printed on the skin echoing within his mind.

"I think someone has made the enemy of Fairy Tail."


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own Fairy Tail Enjoy! **

* * *

A knock sounded at the door.

"Enter." Zeref commanded.

A lower ranked mage came into the dimly lit room. He knelt down before the dark mage. "I bring news, sir."

"Yes, what is it?"

"One of the intelligence groups spotted a mage fitting your description. There isn't precise word on if it's him or not. That is all."

"You may go now." The mage gave one final bow and left. "Spotted, hmm…" Zeref rose from his seat and moved to the observation lacrima in the center of the room. The dark mage placed a hand on the hard surface of the lacrima and an image began to form.

A dark haired young man came into view. Zeref felt his eyes widen._ This is just too perfect._ He mused._ I can use him after all._

* * *

Raven stretched his arms after stepping off the train platform. The eight hour travel had been less than luxurious. His back felt stiff from sitting on the hard train seats for so long. Raven blinked at the busy town before him.

_Clover Town …hmm. _ Raven mused, deep in thought as he moved about the town._ This place seems somewhat familiar._

A brief image fluttered across his mind. A large demon stood towering above a group of people. The demon had three glowing eyes and a twisting wooden body with cutouts over its form. The group of people before him were hazy, not taking a distinct form in Raven's mind's eye.

Raven quickly shook his head to get the idea out._ That was odd. Why would there even be a demon here?_

* * *

"Let's go over it again." Makarov waved the paper he was holding in the air. "The message looked something like this."

Mira and Erza both nodded. The older man looked back at the paper. The girls had drawn exactly what had been printed on Lisanna's back.

_Zeref sends his regards._

"Keep on guard." The older man looked up from the paper. "I don't know who had the guts to do this, but if he works for Zeref it's best for none of us to be caught off guard."

* * *

"Why does everything have to be so damn far away?!"

Raven let out a groan in frustration. He had started his departure from Clover hours ago. Already the sun was making its own journey across the sky, taking the remnants of daylight with it. A rustling in the forest growth near him caught his attention.

"Oi, anyone there?"

No reply. Raven brushed it off and continued onwards. Another rustling from behind. "Oi, who's there?" Still no reply, another rustling. _This is getting annoying. _Raven thought bitterly.

"Me hungry." _What the… _Raven turned to see a large something stomped out of the forest. "Me want food."

"Uh huh, and what the hell are you?"

The creature towered over him, it had an apelike body. A majority of its fur was green in color, though parts of it were purple. "Me Gorian."

"Uh huh," Raven was getting slightly irked at the primitive speech coming from the beast. "Well god luck with finding something to eat."

The Gorian stomped up to the dark hired boy. "You look delicious."

Raven turned an irked glare to the beast. "I'm not a meal. Go bother someone else."

The Gorian brought a fist crashing down on the earth below him. "Me eat you now." Raven got into a defensive stance. _Dammit,_ he thought,_ there is no way I would come this far to get stopped by this thing now._

The Gorian brought another fist down, shaking the ground. The beast lurched forward at Raven. The young man dodged to the side, narrowing missing the collision between man and beast. Raven subconsciously moved his right fist onto his left palm.

Raven froze as ice lances shot from his hands and stabbed into the Gorian. The beast let out a low whimper and scurried away. Raven looked at his hands in wonderment. _How did I do that?_

* * *

"Are you feeling better?" Lucy cast a warm smile to the other girl.

"Yep, just a little tired." Lisanna returned the smile.

"Just wait till I get my hands on whoever did this. He'll feel the wrath of Fairy Tail!" Natsu pounded his fist in his hand to show his determination. Elfman muttered something about being a man beside him.

"But we don't even know who it was." Lucy let out a sigh.

"Are you sure you didn't see anything?" Natsu asked.

Lisanna nodded. "I was attacked from behind. I never saw their face."

"It's not man to fight dirty." Elfman shouted to no one in particular. "Real men fight head on." Lisanna cast her brother a warm smile.

* * *

Raven leaned back against the rough bark of a tree. The sun had long set and the darkness of night had halted his journey. Curiously, Raven tried putting his hands into the position they were in earlier. He placed his right fist back on his open palm.

_That doesn't feel right._ Raven noted. He turned his right fist at a different angle, so the back of his hand faced his left. _This feels more natural._ A bit cautiously, he tried forming the lances he had earlier. Frozen spears came shooting outwards.

_I wonder what else I can do._ Raven rose back to his feet and placed his hand back on his palm.

* * *

"Interesting."

Zeref watched as the boy on the screen tried using his abilities. The dark mage had continually watched the younger mage throughout the day. The most he could gather was the boy was trying to travel back to his guild, though he didn't seem to know where.

An evil smirk spread across Zeref's face. "I can use this to my advantage." Zeref moved away from the lacrima and moved into a stance.

* * *

Raven studied his work in content. He had successfully formed various objects made out of ice and was becoming comfortable with the magic. "Not bad for a day's work." He muttered. He moved away from the ice he had formed and back to tree he had lain against earlier, sleep starting to overcome him.

Something cold wrapped around his ankles. Raven looked down in surprise as what appeared to be shadows twisted about his legs. A feeling of dread and ominous intent came from the blacken cloud beginning to form around him.

Panic consumed him as the black cloud started to choke him. He felt his legs give out and everything became black.

…

* * *

Zeref looked down as the precious form of his plans came into his possession. The figure slowly pushed himself up from the ground and stumbled to his feet. "Greetings."

The figure looked up at the dark mage. "Who are you?"

Zeref brushed the question off. _So he doesn't remember anything. _A wicked thought formed in his mind._ I could make this amusing. _"Never mind that. More importantly, who are you?"

Zeref watched as Gray said nothing. "I'm…"

He didn't finish. Zeref let out a sigh. "So you forgot, did you?"

Raven stiffened as the man walked towards him. "Forget what?"

The man gave him a pitiful look. "About everything we've worked for."

Raven froze in surprise. "We?" He looked at the man across from him. The dark aura around him gave Raven a sickening feeling.

The man nodded. "Yes, all the hard work we've put into reaching our goals and yet you forget. To think, you were so close too."

"What are you talking about?"

A cunning smile spread across the man's face. "I was expecting more from a mage like you, but very well. Now where do I start…"

Zeref gave a small glance to the ice make wizard. "For starters, you work with me and a few other choice mages, all of which are the most powerful in the world." Raven didn't say anything to that. "Together, we oppose groups of mages that would rather we didn't have power."

"Oppose?"

Zeref nodded. "You yourself have made quite an impressive amount of enemies over the years, just because of your heroic actions of fighting alongside mages that believe you do."

Raven watched the man before him, something in his story just didn't feel right. "A few months back you disappeared from the radar. No warning, no evidence, no possible way of finding you. Judging by your current state, whoever took you down had also sealed away your memory and abilities. Now how bout it," the man stretched his hand out to Raven, "you are coming back to us, right?"

Raven looked hesitantly to the outstretched hand. "Before I say anything, can you tell me what either of our names our?"

The man frowned. "If I must. I myself, go by Zeref, though it would be best if you didn't mention my name to anyone. Not many feel kindly towards me. As for you, you'll have to figure it out for yourself. Now, are you rejoining me?"

Raven didn't say anything. "Would it be possible to get back to you on that? I still feel like there's something I need to do before I say yes."

Zeref frowned once more. "Of course, but we still have to return your full power to you." Zeref looked down at Gray. Eckhart would no longer be necessary for a soul transplant if all went well. _I don't even have to kill him yet._ Zeref mused. "I'll return you to your previous location afterwards."

Raven nodded and clasped Zeref's hand in his. The dark mage tightened his grip on the others hand and sent his own magic towards the other. Zeref watched as the black waves engulfed the young man.

"The best of luck to you."

Zeref watched as Gray's body disappeared from his sight.


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy this chapter! **

* * *

Raven gripped his head in pain. Whatever the man had done to him made him feel like his blood was boiling beneath his skin. A scream was ripped from his throat as his body contorted in agony. Black waves of magic slashed at his body, cutting deep into his vulnerable flesh. Another scream of anguish was torn from his throat.

His head jerked back at a sharp angle. Without his consent his nails clawed at his throat, trying to bare the excruciating pain. His body continued to writher as his own mind started to feel the agonizing feeling of pain stabbing at him.

As soon as the pain had started, the pain started to fade away. The subsiding pain disappeared, though an overwhelming magic power radiated from him still. Raven tightened his eyes as another wave of pain started to overcome him. He gritted his teeth in anticipation.

The pain never came. Instead the magic boiled up inside of him. In a sudden, swift motion, the magic spread outwards in a black, sweeping wind. Raven blinked around him. The magic sliced across the earth and vegetation. The once green plant life turned brown and shriveled. The trees fell over on top of each other, the leaves crumbled to dust. Not a single plant was left green and blooming. A sickening feeling caught in his throat, a disturbing thought rose into his mind. _Did I… just kill everything?_

* * *

"Are you done with my services, sir?"

"Hmm, not yet." Zeref was deep in thought as he answered Eckhart. "True, I have him to transfer to, I've already started the process of giving him my magic. But whether this may back fire or not I cannot yet say. As for you," The dark mage turned to Eckhart. "I still want you to keep an eye on Fairy Tail for me. Along with Gray. Make him believe you're a comrade of his, the more he believes me the more control I'll have over him. He isn't completely devoted."

"As you wish, sire."

* * *

Raven stumbled through the undergrowth. As possibly far away from human contact as he could be. After accidently releasing waves of death magic throughout the night he had been able to start grasp how to control the fatal magic. But without warning the magic will still spread out at times, not being merciful to any forms of life.

He believed he stumbled pass a town earlier, but he wasn't sure. The still unknown impulse of him told him to keep going anyway. He was headed southwest still.

Raven gripped his head abruptly in pain. Another black wave of magic pulsed from him, killing the living vegetation surrounding him. After a few moments of letting the pain fade away he began trudging back on.

* * *

"Ichiya-sama," Eve Tearm looked up at his beloved team leader, "What do you think happened here?"

Ichiya waddled up to where the younger boy was looking. The older man and his fellow Trimen Team had traveled quite a bit south on their recently taken mission, ending up between the towns of Oshibana and Kunugi. The older, unslightly man frowned at the scene the youngest Triman had pointed out.

Trees and bushed were crumbled upon the blackened ground. The smell of death still lingered in the air. "This is fatality perfume, men."

"Same over here." Hibiki and Ren came up to the other team members. "Another patch of dead forest was a few miles from here, and a few more before that. Whatever is doing this is leaving a trail."

Ichiya nodded in understanding. It wasn't their mission to track this killing magic, they just happened to stumble upon it. A grim look spread across the man's face. "I believe I know someone who is interested in this, men."

* * *

Raven collapsed to his knees. His energy faded from him, leaving him soon to be a hollowing shell. All the magic he had released had managed to take his stamina with it. He laid against the soft ground, only to have another death wave emanate from him, turning the ground rough in dead grass.

He slowly closed his eyes. Even meant losing hours on his searching he let himself drift off into sleep.

* * *

Erza took a bite of her strawberry cake, savoring the sweet flavor of the moist pastry. She chewed thoughtfully as she observed her fellow guild mates go about their daily lives. The tension in the air left from the attack the other day was slowly diminishing. Only a few members still had it on their mind, the rest tried removing the event from their memory for a time, not wanting to stir up any trouble just yet.

Makarov sat on the bar, out of earshot from most of the guild. Cautiously, so not many of his children would notice, he leaned in close to where Erza was sitting. "I received disturbing news from Blue Pegasus' Ichiya a few hours ago." The Titania shivered, whether at the mention of the news or Ichiya he could not tell. "You don't happen to remember the death wave Zeref kept releasing on Tenrou Island?"

The scarlet nodded. "If I recall, it almost got a few of us."

Makarov nodded. "The same effect the wave caused there has been spotted northeast of here."

"Should we act?"

Makarov shook his head. "Zeref hasn't been reported around the area. I've already sent a man to check out the scene. He should be back on the fastest train here by tonight. I'm telling you this now so you're updated. The time to act my soon be upon us."

Erza didn't say anything. She retained her earlier composure and took another bite of her cake.

* * *

"Are you not worried, sir?"

"Hmm," Zeref raised an eyebrow at Eckhart, whom was currently in his presence instead of keeping eye on Fairy Tail. "What about?"

"About the guild tracking him. They sent someone who could pick up his scent."

Zeref waved off the question. "I've already taken care of that. When I transferred my power I made sure to put a few spells of mine on him. At the moment, he doesn't have a scent, ergo he can't be tracked and or recognized."

"If they happen to stumble upon him?"

"Do not worry about that. I've mentioned a few things to him and he's not one to be taking chances right now." Eckhart didn't ask what the dark mage meant by that, he simply waited.

* * *

Makarov took a sip from his mug. The moon was already high up in the night sky, casting a gleam through the guild windows. A majority of the guild members had left earlier, returning back to their own homes for a night's rest. Only he, Erza, and Mira remained in the otherwise deserted guildhall.

Without warning the guild doors swung wide open and a tall, muscularly built man walked in. His black hair was slicked back behind his head. Metal piercings placed along his face shined on the dimly lit room. Makarov raised a bushy eyebrow at the man, a silent question of his findings.

"Not a thing."

"How do you mean?" The scarlet asked.

"I mean," Gajeel began. "That there was no trace of an exact person being there. There were dead areas, hell they were even in a trail to follow. But there was no one to follow. Whoever did that is long gone."

"What about tracking him off the dead land" Mira spoke up.

"Didn't work. This guy didn't leave a scent."

Makarov scratched his chin. He had made sure to send a dragon slayer just for tracking purposes. The idea that there was nothing to track never occurred to him. "Master, what should our next move be?"

Makarov turned to who had spoken. Erza watched him patiently. "Nothing yet. To be honest, I don't even believe we're dealing with Zeref. He wouldn't have a problem with being tracked. This is someone who's identity wants to be kept secret." The old man jumped off the bar counter and began toward the doors. "Go home for the night. We'll resume when we get a lead."

* * *

Raven swung the dark cloak around his shoulders and pulled the hood up over his head. If what Zeref had said about him having enemies was true he certainly didn't want to run into one. After the night was over his death magic finally seemed to be under control. The sudden burst of magic came less frequently and was not unexpected anymore. He felt the magic pulse through him and usually had enough warning as to when the magic would strike, giving him enough time to get away from living beings.

The silent hours the night had brought had given him enough time to think. Raven had decided that he would travel a bit more and if nothing turned up he would go back to Zeref and his "life." Until then he continued to travel onward, just incognito. The early morning had bought him to a small town, Onibus, he believed the town was called. Using the last piece of coin he had earned he bought his concealing cloak that draped down past his knees, covering him up completely. He had also managed to ask around and learned the only town after this one was the town of Magnolia, after that it was quite a way to the next city.

Raven slowly walked to the outskirts of town. The name Magnolia didn't ring any bells, but with any luck something in the city would bring back memories.


	7. Chapter 7

**I do not own Fairy Tail. I would say enjoy the chapter at this point but that word is becoming way to over used so I will now proceed to rephrase something I could have summed up in three words but didn't. Take relish in this piece of literature that is part seven of a longer story.**

* * *

"Move it, Salamander!"

Lucy let out a sigh as she watched her guild mates go about their daily schedule. Natsu and Gajeel were at it again, no dramatic surprise there. Erza munched contently on the only thing that could get past her defenses, cake. Mira swiped out a beer mug with a rag that had seen better days. "What's wrong, Lucy?"

"Hmm," The blonde looked up at the white haired waitress. "Just have a lot on my mind I suppose. Something in the air doesn't feel quite right today."

"What gives you that idea?"

"I'm not sure…" Lucy trailed off.

"Oi! Salamander! Don't just start sniffing in the middle of another battle!"

Mira and Lucy both raised their heads at this. The white haired girl quickly glanced around the building and let out a sigh. For once all the guild members were there, no need to worry about what happened a few days earlier.

"Something's buring." Natsu announced suddenly.

"Burning?" Lucy spoke up.

The dragon slayer gave a brief nod in reply. The guild looked at the mage in part worry, part nothing at all. It was less than often the energetic teen became serious as he was now. The white haired bar maid broke out of her trance of staring and glanced out one of the stain glass windows at the front of the guild. A small flicker caught her eye. "Is tha-"

The sound of a small explosion cut her off. Wizards ducked and rolled, covering their heads in case of another explosion. All except the higher level wizards that is.

Natsu bolted out the guild door in the direction of the explosion. Flames were leaping up brilliantly against the blue sky. The fire mage inhaled and breathed in the flames. Erza watched as the mage had his fiery meal, musing about the attack.

"WHO THE HELL ATTACKS FAIRY TAIL!"

Wendy looked up as the fire mage exclaimed everyone's current thoughts. The small girl blinked and looked at the recently scorched black ground in front of the building. _That's odd._ She mused. _The fire appeared in sections rather than just one spot._ "Umm, Carla," She began. The white furred feline looked up at her. "Does this look peculiar to you?"

The white haired cat said nothing. Without a word the feline spread her glorious pure white wings and took to the air, soon joined by Happy and Lily. "Tha-that's…" Happy stuttered. The other cats gave a nod and flew back down to the grounded guild members.

"It's a message." Carla stated. "It reads, let the gamble proceed."

* * *

Raven gazed below from the top of the hillside on the flourishing town of Magnolia. Even from this distance it was a clear view of the townspeople going about their daily routines. Strangely enough, on the other side of the town black smoke drifted through the air. Raven shook his head at that. _Must be a destructive town._ He thought dryly.

The dark haired boy made sure his hood was pulled completely over his face and descended down the steep slope.

…

Raven moved swiftly between the citizens in the busy streets. So far, nothing had stood out as familiar, though something couldn't bring him to leave the city. A low rumble came in the distance and dark clouds were slowly forming in the sky. Almost as if replying to the thunder the townspeople slowly left the streets to return to the guaranteed dryness on indoors.

The dark haired sighed as the first few drops of rain landed on his shoulders. He moved slower now, not caring if got wet or even soaked. He wandered aimlessly, stopping every once in a while to look at this or that, not much had managed to catch his interest.

A stone cathedral in the distance, however, did. Or rather, the gravesite right next to the cathedral. Without realizing his feet had moved he entered the gates to the graveyard. Almost like second nature he moved to the back, where the newer memorials and graves were located and stopped before an engraved stone.

_Gray Fullbuster_

_X766- X791_

_Loving Friend and Hero_

Raven felt his mouth flicker into a frown. Something similar to disgust bloomed in him. The dark haired boy's mood turned dark and foul. A thought tickled in the back of his mind, telling him that the stone didn't have a right to be here.

* * *

Wendy ran through the streets of Magnolia, covering her head with her arms so the rain didn't drench her head to toe. The last thing she wanted was Carla fussing over her when she returned back to the guild. The dragon slayer had to step out for a moment, much to Carla's aversion to the idea. The cat insisted no one should go out alone anymore, having had so many threats against the guild. After a bit of promising to be fine the cat agreed and Wendy left. So far she hadn't run into trouble, neither on her way to her destination or back.

The blue hair stopped in a doorway to catch her breath. She breathed in slowly and glanced around the deserted streets. Not a soul remained out, it was eerie how deathly still the city had become. Wendy blinked a few drops of water out of her brown eyes and her vision became clearer. A little bit in the distance she saw one lone figure remained in the gloomy weather.

_Isn't he cold?_

The dragon slayer couldn't help but wonder as a shiver ran down her spine. She stepped out from the doorway and continued on her journey back to her guildhall, which just so happened to be in the same direction the figure was standing. At a closer observation the figure appeared to be standing still in the middle of a storm. Wendy was about to call out to the figure to ask if he needed help returning home, but instead remained silent as she realized he was standing in a gravesite.

_Poor man._ She thought._ Must have lost someone significant._

The dragon slayer began walking past the gravesite, only to do a double take. She stood still and studied the figure with closer interest than before. Her eyes saddened a bit at concluding her thoughts, the man was standing in front of the same memorial the guild had dedicated to their ice mage's memory.

_He doesn't look like a guild member though._ Wendy knitted her eyebrows together. _Nor is that Lyon or Ultear who sometimes visit._

The dragon slayer's curiosity got the best of her and she opened her mouth to say ask who he was.

Her small voice caught in her throat and her eyes widened as she was taken aback. A high pitched, "STOP!" ripped from her lips. Her command went unlisten to.

The figure's foot swung out and swung into the ice mage's memorial. The heavy stone toppled over and cracked on the hard ground. The hooded figure turned to the smaller girl a moment after. Wendy stared in horror at the violator. The hood of his cloak concealed his face in shadows, forbidding her from seeing his identity.

Without warning the figure spun on his heels and fled the graveyard, leaving a very horrified blue haired girl staring at his retreating back.

* * *

Raven panted a little, trying to catch his breath from all the running he did. He was dumbfounded at his own recent actions. He didn't know what came over him but his mind turned dark and the memorial stone had begun to anger him. Devoid of reason, he lashed out.

The dark haired man gradually made his way to the outskirts of town. A dark feeling was beginning to come over him, signally another magic outburst was about to commence. He slumped down behind a tree, out of view from the town. He grasped his head between his arms as the magic began to pulse through his form.

* * *

Makarov clutched the handle of his beer mug until his knuckles turned snow white and the glass shattered in his hand. A golden glow engulfed the elderly man as he listened to a rain soaked dragon slayer voice the disgraceful event she was just witness to. "This is unforgivable." The guild members turned to the aged man. "Attacking one of my children, targeting the guild, desecrating the memory of past family members," The guild had become silent as the members watched their master expectantly.

The guild master looked up and met eyes with each and every one of his children's. "If the want war with Fairy Tail, we'll give them hell."

* * *

Raven sauntered through a wood covered area. His ears perked up at the sound of battle cries and wild cheers coming a little ways off. Intrigue tugged at him as he followed the sound of the cries. Behind the trees stood a single building located on top a small hill. The building was somewhat rundown and crumbling, giving it an uncared for look. Judging by the sounds coming from inside it was anything but. The dark haired boy looked up at the wooden, colorful boards over the doorway that spelled out the words Fairy Tail.

_Must be a wizard's guild. _Raven mused. _Don't wizards help people?_ He studied the building for a few more minutes wondering if he should go in to ask for help in his current predicament. He shook the thought out of his head. _Better if I don't._ He finally concluded. _If I do have enemies the number one place for them to be is a guild. Though maybe I'll go there if I'm desperate…_

Raven turned around and walked back the way he came. Battle cries could still be heard from behind him._ Such a lively guild, it's almost nostalgic._


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy this chapter. **

* * *

"So you've decided to stay?"

Raven looked up to where Zeref was watching him. "Just a while longer in the city. After that I'll come back here."

Zeref mused over his next words. "Excellent choice." He drawled out. "However, business hasn't ended yet. I trust you're still capable of carrying out work?" Raven gave a brief nod to the dark mage. A sly snarl curled on Zeref's lips. After bringing the young ice mage here earlier everything had gone smoothly in his plans. The dark mage motioned for a man watching in the shadows to step out.

"Yes, sir?"

"Eckhart, explain what our death mage here is doing for us."

Eckhart gave a brief nod. With a wave from his hand Zeref sent both mages to the town of Magnolia, out of his presence. Once Gray was completely gone Zeref could no longer retain his laughter. "This is too perfect. What better way to mess with Fairy Tail then by Fairy Tail?"

* * *

Makarov stood in the front of the guildhall, his children not so patiently waiting for him. "Listen up brats," All eyes turned onto the elderly man. "A sighting precisely like the one I sent Gajeel to examine has been spotted on the outskirts of the city. Whoever we're dealing with uses death magic, and by the looks of it, has no control over it."

Each and every guild member continues listening to their master's words, although some shuffled nervously at his last statement. "Whoever this mystery mage is is currently on the loose through the city. We have nothing but the description Wendy gave of the man yesterday, even then we have yet to see their face so they can be anybody. We are not also entirely positive that they are working alone. Their magic aura should be easily recognizable among the townsfolk. Do not, under any circumstances, challenge the mage alone or while civilians are present. Understood?"

Makarov was greeted with cheers in response. Mages jumped from their seas and rushed out the guild doors. A few yelling about how they would be the one to take the unknown mage down.

* * *

"This guild is our enemy?"

Raven watched as guild members from the Fairy Tail building he saw the previous day rush out. The man next to him, Eckhart he believed Zeref called him, nodded. "Zeref has requested we keep an eye on them, but to make sure our identities aren't uncovered. Especially yours. This guild knows you after all. Nasty run in you once had with them."

Raven didn't ask what he meant by that. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. "Any reason why they're riled up?"

"They're looking for us. Namely you. That magic you released yesterday isn't exactly invisible."

Raven was silent as he watched the mages run in indistinct directions. "Say, Eckhart." The other man turned to him. "Did you know me before I forgot everything?"

He gave a grunt in response. "You could say that. We were comrades that worked directly under Zeref together. It's the reason you're death magic doesn't affect me, it only works against enemies."

Raven nodded to this, taking the information in. He had decided late last night to begin trusting Zeref and his words. If this man worked for him, he better start believing him too. Nevertheless, he wasn't very willing to test his magic on him anyway. "What was my name?"

"Didn't go by one." Raven raised an eyebrow at the man questionably. "You went by titles."

"Titles?"

"Murderous, Contract Killer, Executioner, the likes."

A lump formed in Raven's throat. "Have I killed people?"

Eckhart watched the dark haired mage out of the corner of his eye. "You tell me."

The other didn't say anything. "I think I prefer Raven."

Eckhart shrugged. "Suit yourself. Best of luck to you. I'll be going now." The dark mage rose and gracefully walked away from the other mage. Before out of sight he turned around to call back, "Don't lose sight of your job. They're enemies, whether they tell you they are or not."

* * *

Happy let out a small pant as he tried to keep up with his lifelong best friend. The pink haired dragon slayer wasn't waiting for anyone though. Not even the great Titania could keep up with him as he ran through the streets of Magnolia. Occasionally the two along with Lucy would begin to catch up when he stopped to call out, "Where the hell are you, you death bastard!" People on the streets watched the mages a bit annoyed at their ruckus, but were grateful that they weren't destroying anything, yet.

"Hey Erza."

The scarlet spared a glance behind her at the blonde. "Yes?"

"Do you think that this guy we're after is… _unstable?"_

The scarlet didn't answer right away, too absorbed in thought over the question. "Mentally I'm not yet sure. But as far as magic goes, it would have to be a yes. How he's remained unknown for this long with magic as uncontrolled as we've found is a mystery."

* * *

Raven watched Fairy Tail mages run about for the past few hours. One particular group of mages stood out to him. The group consisted of an obnoxiously loud pink haired male, two females, one scarlet the other blonde, and oddly enough, a blue cat. Every once in a while the blue haired girl he saw the day before along with a white cat would meet up with the group.

The dark haired male narrowed his eyes at the searching mages. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but somehow these mages seemed to bring a few unclear images surface in his mind. The images remained unclear, leaving him wondering about how he knew them.

"Must have fought them once." He mused out loud.

* * *

The sound of metal clinking against metal sounded behind the dragon slayer. An armor clad hand clamped down hard on his shoulder, keeping him from running off once more in enthusiasm. The pink haired mage nervously turned around to glance at the requip mage holding him captive. "Enough." Natsu shivered under her forceful stare.

"Of what?"

"Of running through town with no plan. Whoever we're up against isn't slow. They can easily come upon one of us. For now on keep a low profile than what you have been."

Natsu turned away from the scarlet. "Fine." He grumbled.

Erza released her hold on the fire mage. "There haven't been any signs of a fight today. Shall we return to the guild now?"

* * *

"The wizards are…"

"Returning back to their pathetic guildhall." Eckhart finished for the dark mage. Zeref nodded, a sense of contentment whelming inside of him.

"Would tomorrow be an appropriate day to strike? Or has Gray shown any signs of disobeying my wishes?"

"Not a trace."

Zeref smirked at that. The dark mage leaned back as plans started to form in his head. After taking on his magic Gray should start taking on the dark mage's ideals. Already he was starting to believe the dark mage more and more. Eventually his whole mind will be overrun with the dark mage's plans.

"Go ahead and make a direct attack tomorrow. Fairy Tail is troublesome, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't play with them."

* * *

Raven walked around the city of Magnolia freely. The mages from earlier had all returned to their guild, leaving him free to wonder without worrying of being caught. He bathed in the pale moonlight and let his mind travel over the wizards from the day.

He supposed they started out average enough, but that was only at the beginning. The pink one was boisterous to the point of irritation. The scarlet seemed way too high up on a pedestal, odering the others about in a mighty fashion that oozed with false authority. The blonde was average. She didn't have much voice in anything, nor did she show much enthusiasm in her seeking. Likewise, the blue haired girl didn't give much of an impression. Whatever it was with the felines he didn't even bother to try to understand.

The dark haired man let out a long sigh and continued on his way. "Who knows," he voiced, "maybe they can put up a decent fight."

…

* * *

Natsu kicked the guild door wide open in the dim early morning light. Waves and greetings from guild member met him. The guild's residential scarlet waved him over to where she and Lucy already sat, discussing the day's plan. After yesterday's daylong searching with not a thing to show for it the guild had decided to come up with a plan for today's efforts.

The white haired barmaid spared a quick glance around the already lively building. Every mage seemed cheerful as always, showing the merry side of the guild. Mira let out a small smile at seeing that all the members were currently present. She had been worried that another incident might have occurred yesterday. Her smile began to falter at seeing the look on the guild master's wrinkled face.

"Master?" Makarov turned to the concerned sounding child of his. "Is something the matter?"

Makarov was silent a moment. "I have a feeling…" He drawled out suddenly. "That today isn't in our favor." As if agreeing with the older man thunder rumbled off in the distance, signifying the next rainstorm. Annoyed mumbles came from the guild mates as the sky turned grey and the first drops of rain splattered on the stained glass windows.

"I hope it's just a feeling." Mira mumbled.

Laxus and Erza made their ways to the front of the guild, in sight of everyone. "Listen up," Laxus started. "We kept watch on the city all night. Not a soul left. We know whoever has been attacking the guild is still at large in Magnolia."

"Furthermore," The Titania added. "More blackened circles that we've previously found have been spotted around town, giving evidence to the previous claim. Also…"

* * *

Eckhart smiled to himself. He would never understand why the mages never learned. He has attacked the guild openly yet they have yet to have someone keep guard. "It's for the best." He sighed. "At least I know they're current all in there. That is going to make this so much more interesting."

The mage approached the small guild hall in a predatory manner. Raising his hand magic energy began to pulsate around him.

* * *

Raven looked up from the lazy pose he had been in. The sound of an explosion echoed through the city. Black smoke drifted up into the grey sky, right above the location he recognized the Fairy Tail guild to be. Raven pulled the hood back, exposing his face, to get a better view without the fabric blocking part of his vision.

The dark haired young man stood and began walking through the city to the guild. Curiosity had sparked in him, drawing him to the wizard guild. Townsfolk gawked at him as he walked by. A few mumbled "isn't he," or "thought he died," at seeing his face. Raven ignored them. He planned on going back to Zeref, there was no longer a point in hiding.

"Still… I want to see what fight this guild can give me." He mused.


	9. Chapter 9

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"WHO THE HELL KEEPS ATTACKING OUR GUILD!?"

Eckhart smirked as the pink haired dragon slayer ran out into the pouring rain, fuming. Mages rushed out after the young boy, anger written on their faces. A sneer twitched on Eckhart's lips as he sent another wave of magic, this time at the guild members.

Erza requiped into her Heavens Wheel armor and looked for the enemy. A figure was walking slowly towards the guild, killing intent in his eyes. A circle of swords appeared around the scarlet and she sent the wave of blades directly at the man.

Eckhart sent the projectiles flying towards him in a different direction with a flick from his wrist. The scarlet that had attacked him glowered in fury. The pink haired one from a moment ago screamed something about a dragon and a current of fire was aimed at the dark mage. Eckhart continued walking through the blaze, unaffected.

"You're going to have to try much harder than that,_ Fairy Tail._ I have Zeref's blessing after all."

* * *

Raven casually made his way to the guild building that was currently causing all the damn ruckus. He never would have guessed a single guild could be so meddlesome. "Tch, wonder what they're so riled up about anyway. It's not like they're fighting without reason."

Yelling was starting to become audible from the distance that Raven was closing. The sound of explosions echoed off the hillside. If he listened close enough he could just make out demonic laughter under all the disturbance.

* * *

"Bastard!" Natsu spat, wiping a trail of blood off that was dribbling down his chin. "Why would anyone work for Zeref?!"

Eckhart's sneer became a smirk. He rose his hand again and sent another wave of magic at the mages, a few not making it out of the way in time to avoid the hit. "Such pointless questions. Why not would be a better question." Eckhart sent another magic beam, this time at the loud mouth dragon slayer. "Zeref is a god. Only he should control this world. Those who oppose him are slime beneath my foot."

Natsu did a tumbled to the ground and pushed himself back up. "BASTARD! Zeref is the slime here!" The dark mage flicked his wrist a magic consumed the younger mage. The dragon slayer crumpled to the ground.

"Karyū no Kagitsume!"

Eckhart flicked his hand once more, sending the fire mage crashing to the side. "You just don't comprehend the obvious. Zeref is going to win this battle."

"SHUT UP!" Natsu screamed. "It's Zeref's fault Gray was killed! We're not going to lose to him!"

"Who was killed?"

Heads swiveled around at the newcomer's voice. A painfully familiar was making his way towards thee group of mages. His dark raven hair was plastered down by the rain onto his alabaster skin. Deep blue eyes bore into the stone frozen mages. "Ga-Gray?" Natsu choked out.

The raven knitted his brows together, a look of confusion settling on his pale face. "Who's Gray?"

"What the hell do you mean!" Natsu shouted. "You're Gray!" The fire mage rushed forward to tackle his lifelong friend and rival in a hug, Erza and every other mage doing the same.

Eckhart flicker his wrist and another wave of magic hit the Fairy Tail mages, sending them flying back before they reached the young man._ Truly, they get so distracted when they see their_ nakama. Another smirk quirked at the corner of Eckhart's mouth. The dark mage's plan began to form in his head. He had given a fifty fifty chance of the now death mage showing up. Saying he was completely unprepared would be a lie.

"Was that really necessary?" Raven turned to Eckhart, passive at the previous attack on the mages.

The dark mage shrugged. "They're our enemies. Showing nothing but the worst is too merciful for the scum."

"I suppose." Raven mused out loud. "I was hoping they would be more than this. Pathetic a whole guild can't manage a single blow on one mage."

"GRAY!" Raven looked up to see the scarlet from yesterday yelling at him. "What are you talking about? We're your nakama!"

"Nakama?" Raven blinked at the mages before him. Something said they familiar, something else said that meant nothing. "You don't even look remotely like someone that would be that close to me." Jaws dropped and the guild members gawked at him.

Eckhart smirked at the shock figures. "It seems that they're still a little doubtful. Shall you show them what you mean?" The figure the Fairy Tail scum called Gray didn't make an act to move.

Raven kept silent as eyes bore into him. Not those of the guild, he couldn't care less for them, but of Eckhart's. The dark mage was becoming more and more of a shady character. He could feel his blood start to boil and a murderous feeling was overwhelming him. "They're not worth it." Raven turned to Eckhart. "Either end them now or don't bother. We're wasting time, Zeref has orders waiting."

"Gray!" Raven turned back to the guild members. A short, old man was standing in front of the guild members. "Don't you dare turn your back on your family. After all this ti-"

"I'm not Gray." Raven cut who he assumed was the master off. Not for believing he wasn't the one he spoke of, more to get him to stop talking. The older man gave of the feeling of a loved grandfather to him, conflicting with his wicked thoughts.

"Gray!" The scarlet again. "Don't you remember us?! You've been a part of Fairy Tail since you were a kid. You are one of our fam-"

"Stop talking!" raven burst out. The scarlet looked too stun to speak.

Eckhart watched the death mage with mil amusement. The young sacrifice seemed to be having trouble keeping his thoughts straight. _Perhaps Zeref's will hasn't completely settled in yet._ "They're lying to you. They're nothing but filthy enemies who wish to see you dead."

"That's not true!" Raven looked up to see a blonde yelling at Eckhart's words. "We care about you Gray! Just listen to us."

"Kill them now. They'll just get in the way."

Raven froze at the command. He felt sickened at the idea of hurting these people. He felt even more sickened at how_ tempting_ the order was. "I-"

"Gray!"

Raven threw his hands over his ears as countless voices of the guild members started calling out to him, telling him to remember this and that. Eckhart continued his orders. Above all, voices were present in his head telling him what to do.

_ Just do it now._

_ Zeref?_

The loudest voice in his head took a moment to reply._ They're just holding you back. Finish them!_

_But…_

"GRAY!"

Muffled yelling made its way into his ears. The Fairy Tail mages were up and moving now, heading towards him. Eckhart flicked his hand and magic collided with the mages, sending some flying back. The scarlet aimed a sword attack at the dark mage before continuing her course to Raven. The energetic pink one and a young blonde did likewise. The dark mage kept attacking and mages cried out in pain. "STOP!" Raven turned towards Eckhart, unable to take the screaming of the struggling mages any longer. "Can't you see you're hur-"

_They're pitiful._ Raven gripped the side of his head in frustration as Zeref's voice came back. _If you kill them, you can't hear them scream. _

He chanced a look and immediately wished he hadn't. The scarlet was thrown to the side in one sweep. Raven shut his eyes tight as images started to flash through his mind. A young girl, crying beside a river. A dark haired boy beside her, asking why she was crying alone. The blonde was flung onto the ground. An image of a teen girl flashed through his mind, pulling out a golden colored key. The pink haired one was smashed against the guild building. An image of him turning to him came into his mind, the pink haired one opened his mouth to speak, _Don't feel insecure just because you lost! We are Fairy Tail! We're from the guild that doesn't know when to stop! We won't survive unless we keep running! _Raven shut his eyes once more in weariness.

"They're not my family…"

A brown haired girl came into his head this time, yelling at him to put on his clothes.

"I've never heard of them…"

An old man came into his head. Smiling and telling him that the guild is a family.

"I don't…"

A guild building, standing tall and proud. The name Fairy Tail written above the doorway. Signaling that it was the home to come back to. Raven felt a whisper leave his lips. "I just don't want… for them to get hurt."

Natsu glanced up from Eckhart's next attack and gazed at his friend. A knot tightened in his chest. With the way the mage was acting, seeming so confused and conflicted, he looked just like Zeref did back on Tenrou Island. The fire mage swung away from the next attack and successfully got past the dark mage. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Erza do the same. "GRAY!"

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

The dragon slayers eyes widened as an all too familiar smell of s devious magic wafted to his nose. He reached out a hand and pulled down Erza before the magic could hit either of them.

Raven felt like everything was happening in slow motion. The murderous rage that was coming alive in him had burst out in a violent, death wave. Every ounce of his uncontrollable magic surged from him, heading out in all directions. Raven opened his eyes in horror to see the magic directing towards the scarlet and pinked haired one and continue spreading past them to the rest of the guild members.

Raven collapsed to his knees, all strength leaving him. His head hit the hard ground and his world went black.


	10. Chapter 10

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

It was suffocating.

Black walls were pressing down on him from every angle. No oxygen came to his lungs as he struggled to ward off the gloom of his inner mind. A deep feeling of anxiety dug into him and it felt like drowning without water. Not a light could be glimpsed in the entirety of the black abyss. Not a star in the sky to cast down its reflection, nor a moon to illuminate the deep deaths, only eternal night.

A dark hair teen brought his knees up to his chest, a small defense from the terrors that lurked nearby. He briefly wondered about his life. Wondered if he only ever knew pain and hatred. Or if there was still somebody that cared. Only for a brief moment, then darkness would concume him one more and the fright overcame his being again.

* * *

A small group of mages sat in silence in a small infirmary located in the proud guild hall. Not a wizard uttered a word, afraid the delicate balance of the moment would shattered with a single breath. Outside the room door low murmurs could be heard from concerned friends of the one now lying unconscious on the infirmary bed. Raven colored locks fell in front of the face of a young wizard's pale complexion.

"Is he going to be okay?" A barely audible whisper came from the blonde sitting in the room. No one answered; the only room in the room to make a sound was the blue feline that kept sniffling the name of the lifeless seeming wizard.

The young, blue haired sky sorcerous had tried unsuccessfully to wake him. After a guild mate retrieving the guild's pink haired medic from her home in the East Forest anticipation of the young man waking slowly began to disappear. The medic stating he would wake "in his own time," whenever that might be. After another request to heal him from his confusion any hopes completely departed from them. The medic impassive at saying, "Neither I nor Wendy can help him. We can heal the body, but the mind is near untouchable."

Hesitantly, the oldest in the room turned to the door. The scarlet watched the elderly master leave the room, no doubt going to reassure the guild that Gray was, in lack of a better word, "stable." The scarlet sent a sweeping gaze over the others in the room. The only ones that had yet to leave the crowded room included the fire dragon slayer, his cat, and the celestial mage. All others had returned, not wanting to disturb the sleeping mage.

The scarlet felt her hand curl into a fist in her gauntlet. Luckily, the injured guild members were easily healed and restored back to their full health. Not so luckily, the man that had attacked the guild had disappeared in the confusion, leaving no one to question what hell the ice mage was going through right now. The look of hurt she had witnessed on her close friend earlier was enough to tear her heart in two. Now she wished she could at least see emotion come from the ice mage now. He only lay motionless. His face stiff and impassive in appearance. His chest was close to not at rising and falling while he breathed.

"What do you think happened to him?" Happy sniveled.

The pink haired fire mage gave a shrug. "Does it matter? He was gone after the…incident. Whatever brought him back is a mystery. But at least he's back."

"Why doesn't he recognize us?" Lucy choked out through her concerned tears.

"Perhaps…" Erza mused outloud. "When he came back he was in a sense _reformed._ He only reclaimed memories that were reformed with him."

"So he forgot us?!" Happy cried out.

"Maybe not." Erza tried to calm the cat. The feline may be the dragon slayer's, but that didn't mean he didn't love other mages. "Give it some time. With enough reflection on past events maybe he can reclaim what he forgot."

"Back when we were fighting he looked…conflicted." Lucy drawled out. "What was that about?"

"What you don't want to admit." Erza growled. "That damn Zeref has been manipulating his memories."

A snarl came from the dragon slayer. "He'll pay for that. No one messes with a Fairy Tail mage."

"Still…" Lucy murmured. "He didn't even know anyone. He didn't know master, or you, or even his own name-"

"That's because no one ever told me."

The three mages and cat jumped at the voice. They turned to the once sleeping ice mage and saw him staring at them through slightly cracked eyes. "You called me Gray earlier, is that really my name?"

Erza gave a small nod in response.

Gray gave the tiniest of smiles. "That's good. You have no idea how frustrating it is to have your name changed every few days." The ice mage closed his eyes again and leaned back into the soft pillow.

The mages recovered from the initial shock of the ice mage stirring, or at least the cat did. Happy let out a small cry and burrowed himself into the ice mage's chest. Erza blinked a few times to take in the fact the ice mage appeared somewhat normal. "Gray, how are you feeling?"

"Depends, are you going to kill me?"

"Huh?" the scarlet watched the raven in shock. "Why would we do that?"

"So you're not." Gray let out a relieved sigh. "That's nice. I was worried this guild hated me."

Lucy reached out a squeezed the ice mage's hand. "Did someone tell you we would?"

"You could say that."

"Do you remember anything?" Erza spoke back up.

"Faint glimpses." The scarlet nodded, she had expected as much. Albeit, for obvious reasons, her hopes for an answer in which he remembered everything was now crushed. "In all honest, you do seem sort of familiar, but just barely."

"Good enough for me." Natsu interrupted. "Now when are you going to fight me Ice Block?!"

Lucy sent a glare at the fire mage. The ice mage just returned to the guild all that was on his mind was resuming their never ending fight. "Natsu, let him rest."

The fire mage gave a "tsk" sound but didn't press the matter. "Natsu, nun." Gray muttered. "That name sounds really familiar. Who are the rest of you?"

"Well I'm Lucy," The blonde pointed a finger to herself. "That's Erza," She pointed to the scarlet, "and that blue ball of fluff is Happy."

"Nice to remeet you all."

"Is any of this ringing a bell?" Erza asked.

"Well.." Gray turned to the scarlet. "You remind me of armor, a lot of it. Some sort of changing magic maybe?" Erza nodded. "You remind me of something dealing with keys." He turned to the blonde. "I think it's summoning magic." Lucy gave a cheerful nod at her friend starting to remember.

"What about me?" Happy tugged on the raven's shirt that he was somehow still wearing. Must have forgotten about his stripping habit Erza concluded.

"Fish?"

"YES!"

"What about me?!" Natsu whined. "Did you forget about the great Natsu?!"

Gray furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "Shut up Flame Brain."

Natsu let out an annoyed yell. Lucy giggled at the thought of Gray still remembering one of his insulting names for the fire mage. Even Erza joined in on the laughter. Natsu grumbled under his breath at their enjoying this too much.

"Come on!" Natsu reached down and grabbed Gray's wrist.

"Where are we going?"

"If you have enough strength to tease me you have enough strength to meet a guild full of people."

* * *

"That's unfortunate."

"My apologies, sir, I wasn't able to control him."

Zeref ignored the man's babble. It wasn't in his plan to lose the ice mage this easily. "We'll have to see how all this plays out. With any luck I'll still be able to manipulate him. Ideally he'll just be more of an inside agent of types. After he regains his vigor we'll proceed with the full soul transplant. Dismissed."

The man in front of him gave a small bow before leaving the dark mage alone in his wicked musings.


	11. Chapter 11

**Thus a glorious figure smiled down upon the poor citizens that attended school and said "Let there be standardized testing." Anyways, sorry the update took so long, I've been busying studying for test. If any of you guys live in a country that doesn't do standardized testing, you have no idea how lucky you are. Imagine yourself staring at a paper for two hours then sitting for six more, not allowed to do anything but breath quietly. Watching paint dry is more fun, at least then you have something to do. Oh well, enjoy the chapter.  
**

**I do not own Fairy Tail. **

* * *

"Have you seen Gray?"

The white hired bar maid gave the scarlet one of her warm smiles. "I believe he's in the library." Erza gave Mira a nod in thanks before turning to make her way to the mentioned room. After several days of the ice mage coming back to the guild he had yet to regain his memory. It wasn't uncommon at that this point to find him looking through old files trying to regain his memory. Not that he has.

Low murmurs could be heard right outside the doorway before entering. Erza turned he door handle and found four figures crowded around one of the tables located in the room. Lucy gave the scarlet a small wave as she entered the room. Natsu was leaning across the table and pointing at something in an old painting Reedus must have done years ago. The last figure, Happy, was casually munching a fish he was given.

"I still don't get it." Gray looked at a picture Natsu was currently pointing to. "Why is it I was usually not wearing clothes?"

"You have a stripping habit." Erza answered, coming up behind the ice mage. "You trained in ice magic and you did so without clothes to become used to the bare cold. It resulted in you always taking off your clothes, despite the weather."

"Isn't that a little strange?"

The scarlet shrugged. "Never stopped you before."

Gray put the painting back down and picked up a stack of old mission flyers to leaf through. Natsu's past collection had come in handy, giving the ice mage ideas of what jobs he had previously taken. "What's this one?" The raven held up an old flyer with a large red S written across the front of the paper.

"That was the S class mission the three of you were prohibited to go on. Not that it stopped you. That's where you got this." The scarlet tapped the raven's forehead where his scar was located.

Gray rubbed the scar in thought and mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that?" Lucy spoke up.

The raven blinked at the blonde. "Iced shell… why does that come to mind?"

The blonde shifted uncomfortably in her sea. "Well…it's a spell that turns your body to ice. You almost used it during the mission. Oh, and there was your teacher."

"Ur?"

The three mages and cat stared at the ice mage. Maybe his recalling his own teacher was a sign that he was remembering his past. Lucy gave a nod to confirm his statement.

"Where is she?"

None of the three mages replied for a moment. Erza took a deep breath before answering. "She's…not exactly alive. But she's not dead." The ice mage raised an eyebrow at the scarlet. "Technically, she's part of the ocean now."

"That was an odd explanation." Gray mused. He looked back at the mission flyer. "Galuna Island… Did I meet someone there?"

"You met up with your old friend." Happy answered. "Though you say he's not a friend. But you two do like each other. Even though you say you don't. He tried to kill you once. But it's okay now. He was upset when he found out you really did a few months ago. Or when we thought you were dead. Oh, and you two al-"

"Thank you, Happy." Lucy cut off the feline's rambling. "I think he gets it."

"What's his name?"

"Lyon." Erza answered. "We can get in contact with him if you want to ask him anything. He knew you for a while before we did, so he can tell you about your time training with Ur."

Gray nodded. "Maybe I should… What's this one?" Gray shuffled to the next flyer.

* * *

Zeref brought the chalice containing red wine the color of blood up to his lips. The once extravagant taste of the wine tasted like ash in his dry mouth. The dark mage let out an irked sigh and lowered the goblet once more. His hand shook slightly as he did. What had been strong muscles had depleted to the strength of an individual straw from a haystack. Grey colored skin stretched across the feeble bones, black splotches were here and there, and giving what was light skin a replacement of dark shades that mirrored death itself.

"Are you alright, Master?"

Zeref waved a hand to dismiss the question. "Never mind that. Are the preparations completed yet?"

"A few last finishing touches, sire. We should be able to proceed momentarily."

"That will do. We act as soon as possible."

Zeref closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of his throne. His mind wandered onto his current person of interest. He hadn't imagined that only giving part of his soul to the ice mage would result in his body becoming weakened at this rate. If Gray did not return into his possession soon he would no doubt wither away before his goals were met.

The dark mage took in even breaths, pondering his predicament. _I could have Gray kill Eckhart and transfer that part of my soul in that manner… We he kill him would be the question, maybe if he knew the man was already dead he would. I suppose I could always do it and transfer my soul to him afterwards. That would be a pain though…_

A dry, humorless cough mixed with blood came from the dark mage. "Gray could always kill me." He voiced out loud. "That would be for the best, he succeed in killing himself at the same time if he did."

* * *

Gray chatted idly to Lucy at the Fairy Tail bar. Every once in a while someone else would join the conservation or answer one of the raven's many questions. Often Happy was beside the two mages, throwing in casual insults to Lucy for no apparent reason other than he could, much to the blonde's annoyance. Mirajane, or Mira, as the ice mage learned she went by both titles tended to add to the stories told to him. Somehow the white haired barmaid made the most nerve wrecking stories of missions sound like sweet walk in the park. Other times other guild mages made past events sound like the impossible come true.

_Must be there overactive imaginations. _The ice mage concluded.

Natsu stomped up to the group of mages seated at the counter. The fire mage placed one firm hand on Gray's shoulder and yanked him up to face him. "Ice bastard, fight me already, would ya!"

Gray scrunched his eyebrows at the displeased dragon slayer. "Why do we always fight again?"

Happy clamped down his teeth on a fish he had recently been given for dinner. The small blue feline watched in amusement as Natsu went on a long rant about the two being rivals and such. Lucy gave the dragon slayer one of her nervous looks she always had before the guild was thrown into turmoil of the destruction type. Happy stifled a giggle around his mouth full of fish when Gray blocked a punch sent by Natsu and retaliated with his own attack.

The blue feline hopped up from his comfortable sitting position and waddled lazily over to where Lucy was trying to calm down the two youths. Happy wasn't able to keep his next laugh silent as Lucy had to duck down to avoid being in the middle of the fray. Somewhere off in the guild the feline heard Elfman yell "MAN!" and a table was sent flying towards their direction. The celestial wizard let out a yelp and dodged the oncoming threat, only to have it smack squarely into the most terrifying scarlet the world has ever known. Erza froze and looked crushed as the strawberry cake she had been eating knocked out of her hands and clattered to the ground.

Gray wondered for a moment how a verbal challenge how turned into a vast brawl as more and more guild members quarrel. The raven ducked as a punch was thrown his direction and a kick sent his way. He spun around to send an attack of his own only to see a fist connected to Natsu's arm aiming for his face. He heard a loud shriek of someone yelling "Gray-sama!" before he was flying back from the punch into the building's wall.

Gray felt his head smash against the wall with a deafening crack. He gingerly rubbed the back of his now throbbing head. He swore under his breath, the last thing he needed right now was brain damage.

Natsu smirked at his advantage over the ice mage. Gray sent the fire mage one of his icy glares. "Dammit, Natsu, didn't I tell you when we were kids that I was stronger!"

"LIKE HELL YOU WER-"

The dragon slayer cut himself off and stared dumbfounded at the ice mage. "What did you just say?"

"When we were kids I told you-"

"YOU DID SAY THAT!" Natsu rocked back and forth on his heels in excitement.

Erza looked over to see what got the usually rambunctious teen to calm down all of a sudden…or at least in a fighting sense. "What did Gray just say?"

Gray let out an vexed sigh. "That when we were ki-"

"Gray! That's fantastic!" The raven blinked at Erza's exclamation.

"Huh?"

"You remembered something. Maybe when you hit your head it jogged part of your memory."

Natsu rubbed his chin in thought. "Maybe if I hit him harder he'll remember everything."

"How about no."

Natsu's fist flamed up. "Come here Gray. We're going to do a little memory therapy."

"Don't you dare."

"That's the spirit."

"Natsu, I swear if you come any closer to me I'm going to-"

Gray ducked as the pink haired teen lunged towards him. "Hold still already!" Natsu shouted after lunging again after the ice mage.

"Natsu, that's enough." The dragon slayer froze as Erza strode towards them. "I'll do it."

Gray stared wide eyed at the scarlet. "You wouldn't."

Erza didn't reply vocally. Instead she requiped into her purgatory armor. "This will only take a moment."

"Erza, I'm begging you." Gray backed up. The few days he had been at the Fairy Tail guild he had learned enough to know not to disobey Erza, but he sure as hell wasn't going to sit still when she changes into her battle armor.

"Hold still so I only hit your head."

"That isn't reassuring." Gray involuntarily flinched when the scarlet pulled her arms back to ready herself for a précised aim.

The scarlet froze as did the rest of the guild. Earsplitting sounds were ringing through the ear. Vibrations trembled the guild building and were becoming stronger in their wake. Lucy shook a little at the sudden change from playful guild mates the deadly tension. "What is tha-"

A scream pierced the air before she could finish.


	12. Chapter 12

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy! **

* * *

Gray let out a spluttering cough, trying to clear his lungs from the dense smoke filling the air. It felt like a lifetime ago when the guild members had unwittingly rushed into a heated battle coming straight for them. The raven still wasn't sure who screamed bloody murder earlier, but he was sure it was just to lure the mages out of the guild hall. The ice mage brought his hands naturally into his combat stance, one hand facing outwards on top the other. Ice lances shot out at the next attacker that appeared in his view.

A gruesome skeleton type figure was coming towards him. Pearl white bones gleamed, the hallow black eye sockets revealed nothing, just the craving for lives to feast upon. Visible joints clinked together with the skeleton's movements. A bony hand clenched a short sword and swung the weapon full force down at him.

Gray evaded the hit from becoming fatal, the blade still managed to nick the skin on his arm though, causing fresh crimson blood to drip from the slashed skin. The ice mage let out a curse as he plunged an icicle into the ribs of the skeleton. A crack appeared and the bone shattered before coming to a heap on the ground. The ice mage leaned back and moved away from the pile of bones. Luckily for the Fairy Tail mages, the attackers weren't too difficult to defeat. There was just too many of them. That was just the beginning of their problems.

They kept coming back.

The bone pile began to tremble violently. Bines fused and knitted back together in hundreds of places, until a full size skeleton was reformed from the remains of the last one. The bony figure gripped its weapon from earlier and slowly lugged forward to the ice mage. Gray placed his hands on the ground, forming a thin iced sheet over the ground, it wasn't much, but it worked in slowing the creature down. The ice mage moved to his free side, eluding another blow from a different departed being.

Gray let out a pant. He could barely make out Erza and Wendy fighting somewhere away from him. But they were getting further and further away from him. He lost sight of everyone else in the guild, only a few figures were still visible between the distance and the smoke and dust rising up from this catastrophe.

_ What the hell is going on?_

The ice mage thought bitterly. The Fairy Tail mage dived as yet another swung a weapon at him, driving him backwards.

_There attacks are easily avoidable compared to what they could be…_

The ice mage rolled to the side as another skeleton tried to dig a dagger into his neck.

_They fighting the wizards and pushing them back towards the guild…_

Gray let out a growl as another skeleton crowded around the already surrounding group. A bony hand clamped onto his ankle from below and pulled his leg out from under him. His head hit the hard ground and he ground his teeth together, refusing to cry out at the sharp pain as his skull sliced across a rock settled into the ground.

_ But they're pushing me in the opposite direction._

Gray swung a leg out, kicking two skeleton soldiers down at once. He pushed himself up from the ground and formed another ice attack as he got into a standing position. An iced covered fist scraped across fleshless bone, marking deep scores into a white mandible. A hand lashed out and twisted firmly around his throat, cutting off his access from fresh air to fill his lungs with. The edges of the fingers clawed into the tender flesh. The mage could feel warm blood slip down his neck and sprinkle across his pale skin. His vision was becoming blurry and figures smeared into uncertain colors. The ice mage struggled under the grip, he squinted his eyes, trying to focus on the creature that had a hold of him. Sunken obscure holes were in front of him, a skull holding them. Gray attempted to tear at the dead figure, only to have the dizziness of lack of oxygen sap his strength away from him. Through his bleary eyes he saw the skeleton straighten up suddenly and the firm grip on him loosened the tiniest bit. The hold released completely and the ice mage fell back to the ground, only to have a skeleton slam a knee into his chest, pushing him back even farther.

Another skeleton soldier approached him, leaving the larger fray that the guild members were fighting back to back in. Curiosity perked up as the skeleton did so.

_If I get away from here…_

Another skeleton soldier made its way to him.

…_will they follow me…_

A third skeleton made its path to him.

_…and leave the rest of the guild alone?_

The ice mage took a few experimental steps backwards, then a few more. The skeletons followed in suit, matching step for step. "Well what do you know…" Gray spun on his hell and took off, trying to get as far away from the guild as he could. Skeleton soldiers chased after him, their bony feet smashing against the soft ground in pursuit. Occasionally the ice mage would send ice projectiles behind him, taking down a few of his predators. The sounds of the larger fight back of the guild were fading away, becoming more muffled and distant.

The skeletons weren't as slow as they were earlier. They had increased their pace, coming at him with more vigor. Gray let out another curse when a bony hand flung out and wrapped around his arm. He yanked himself free but the action was enough to slow him down. Another white hand twisted itself around him, getting a firm grip on his upper left arm. A third hand twisted into his raven colored hair. Gray tried flinging his arm away from captivity, only to have the weight of several skeletons crash down on his back. The ice mage toppled to the ground under all the literal dead weight.

He rolled over, hearing the cracking of bones as he did under him. The ice mage swung his arm out to free it and brought his hand to meet the other in his signature ice make stance. Ice blades jutted off his forearms to past his elbows. In seven swift movements the remaining skeletons fell to the ground, sliced to ribbons. A smirk was beginning to travel across the ice mage's face in triumph.

A clinking sound rose from the pile of now shattered bones. Gray's smirk disappeared as the bones began to fuse together. To his horror the bones weren't reforming into another assembly of skeleton soldiers. Bones stacked on top of one another, creating a monster of unreasonable size. A ten foot giant stood were seconds ago there had only been a pile of bones. The creature reached down a picked up a bone that had been reused in the process. A perfectly shattered piece of bone that was sharp enough to stab through a body with enough force.

"Shit."

The ice mage dived as the giant brought the spiked bone crashing down at the spot he had previously stood. The giant pulled the bone back up from the ground and turned to where Gray now was positioned. The ice mage sidestepped and tumble rolled away from the next attack. The bone weapon stabbed into the tree that was next to his head moments ago, splintering the trunk in two pieces. Gray cautiously backed away from the giant before putting his hands back into ice make locus.

"Ice Make: Ha-"

A sharply pointed sword flew towards him. The projectile pierced his skin and went through his body into the tree behind him, trapping him in place. The weapon dug into the left side of his chest, into the narrow space between his heart and shoulder. A grunt of pain escaped him as blood cascaded down his blood. The bone giant took a step towards him, intent to kill in its hallow eyes.

Gray gritted his teeth as he waited for the finishing blow to be delivered. The giant took another step forward. Dust began rising from the monster. The ice mage watched as the bone began to disintegrate and sweep through the air. Gray blinked at the now empty spot in front of him. All that remained was the bone sticking in his chest, perfectly intact and not giving any sign of disintegrating, keeping him locked in place against the tree.

"How unfortunate."

Gray's head snapped up at the familiar voice. He turned his head to the left in time to see a dark figure coming near him. "Zeref?"

"I remember strictly telling them to not cause any damage to you. I suppose that's the flaw in using the dead. Their brains are gone so they can't think about anything." The dark mage stopped a few feet in front in the ice mage. "Admittedly, some of that may have been my fault. My magic control isn't as strong as it used to be."

The ice mage stared at the figure in front of him. His memory of him was different. When he saw the dark mage just days ago he looked youthful and energetic. Now he was like a living corpse. Gray gave him a glare. According to his friends at Fairy Tail Zeref wasn't exactly a friendly guy. "What the hell do you want?"

"I'm dying. I want your body."

Gray blinked at the dark mage. He hadn't expected an actual reply. "My body?"

"I already have half of it; it's just the matter of the other half." The dark mage took another step towards him.

Gray struggled against the bone pinning him down. "Are you insane?!"

"Perhaps. You tell me, would you rather kill me, or I kill you."

The Fairy Tail mage gave him a look of disbelief. "You're kidding right? Why the hell are you even asking that?!"

Zeref gave an uncharacteristic shrug. "We're soon to be the same person. It would only make sense I treat myself well."

"You are insane."

"What would your answer be then?"

"I'm not a murderer."

"Very well." Zeref raised a hand and magic energy began to swarm around him. "Shall we get started then?"


	13. Chapter 13

**I do not own Fairy Tail. So here's the last chapter. It's not perfect, but it's not awful. Side note, I do plan on writing more stories with Gray as a hero. If some of you are following me and it says the character in the story is just Gray, it's one of those stories. If it says Gray and someone else, you probably won't be as interested (unless you're a pervert of something, I don't know). Unless it says different in the description, it's probably going to be a romance of something. Any-who, enjoy!**

* * *

Gray forced his head as far to the right as he could, gritting in pain as his shoulder tore under the bone pinning him in place. The wave of magic sliced across his collarbone, narrowly missing his throat as the skin shred in pieces. Warm blood trickled down his pale skin, staining bright red in the process.

"Don't squirm. You'll only cause unnecessary damage to our body."

A low growl came from Gray's throat at the word "our." The ice mage twisted his shoulder some more, trying to free himself. More blood gushed out in response. Zeref let out a sigh somewhere between irked and contentment as he raised his hand for another blow. The ice mage gave one more jerk and the bone trapping him came loose. Skin tore off his shoulder, leaving only ripped muscle where skin should have been visible. He tumbled to the ground in time to miss the next attack.

Gray held the now bloody mass of his free chest. Heated blood pooled in his hand and dripped between his fingers, spilling more of the precious liquid keeping him alive. Zeref twitched an eyebrow, obviously annoyed at the fight the ice mage was still trying to out up. Gray brought his hands together to form an iced shield. The dark mage sliced across the freshly formed ice, shattering the ice as easily as Gray had made it.

"You know Gray, if you give me your body it would be the same as you having the greatest power in existence. Not many mages dare say they are as strong as me. Those who do are fools. You _can_ be as strong as me. You just have to let me use you for a time."

Gray dived, missing another death wave. "You hurt Fairy Tail. I can't forgive that."

Zeref grew vexed every passing second. It wasn't the matter of killing Gray, it was a matter of not destroying his body. A smirk tried to creep its way across Zeref's face as an idea crept across his face. "Did this so called family of tours ever tell you exactly how you _died_?"

Gray froze for a moment. He had asked a few times, but they never said anything. Something about it being painful to think about. "I-"

"It's because they didn't care that you did." The dark mage took one step closer to the stilled ice maker. "Why fight for a family that doesn't want you. Just leave them behind."

"But that's not-"

"Fairy Tail isn't worth fighting for. I am." Zeref stretched a hand out to the ice mage, death magic swirling around the open palm.

Gray felt his breath catch in his throat. True, the mages had the guild hadn't told him the exact details, but…

A scream ripped from his throat as Zeref clasped the ice mage's hand with his own. Magic bit into his skin. It was like someone had sliced open his arm and began to pull the arteries out.

Zeref frowned. Something wasn't right. The magic was having an odd effect on the ice mage. He was suffering, that wasn't the problem. His aura changed, and not to one of a dying man. A curse came out of the dark mage's mouth as he pieced everything together. The ice mage was subconsciously recognizing his magic. Meaning he was recognizing everything having to do with it. Including…

Gray's body convulsed in pain. He hardly registered the feeling. Instead he focused on images flashing across his mind. A dragon was giving a roar, claws digging into soft earth. His friends were around him, but only for a few moments before he tumbled down into darkness, alone with the dragon. Screams from his friends. Him in pain. Getting up. Standing in a fatal stance, turning to ice, ice encasing the dragon.

Zeref let go of his grasp on the young mage. The ice maker fell and collapsed over himself. His frown from earlier deepened as the ice mage started to gasp out. "Ac…nologia." The ice mage raised his eyes to the dark mage. "I killed…Acnologia." The ice mage pushed himself to his feet. "All because…you threatened my nakama… They didn't give up on me. I fought for them because they didn't."

Zeref's gaze turned into a glare. The sudden change in Gray's eyes from dark blue to red didn't go unnoticed. The dark mage let out a stream of curses. If his own side in Gray was awakening while he was in this state things couldn't end well. The ice mage stumbled closer to the dark mage.

"I plan to keep doing just that."

Zeref jumped to the side, barely missing Gray's attack. _Who would have thought…_ The dark mage dived to the side as death magic spilled outwards from the ice mage._ Gray is going to end this after all._

Gray reeled back his fist and sent it flying towards the dark mage. His fist mage contact with Zeref's stomach and the feeble dark mage stumbled backwards. Zeref's head snapped to the side excruciatingly fast at the next blow. Another hit handed squarely in his ribs with an earsplitting crack.

Zeref straightened up and magic energy swirled around him. "I'm not losing to the likes of you."

A dark cloud encased the ice mage and dark mage together, suffocating the both of them. A feeble hand reached out and clamped down around Gray's throat, nails digging into the tender flesh. The ice mage gagged. Magic seeped into his mouth, drowning him in its power. The ice mage struggle for a few moments before becoming limp.

* * *

_Where am I?_

_ A raven head figure gazed around, unsure about his surroundings. Everything was pitch black, but it wasn't dark. Illumination was visible even without a definite light source. Gray took a few cautious steps forward, looking for anything that would make itself noticed to him. _

_ "Hey, are you alright?" _

_ Gray turned to the sound of the voice. A small boy with silver white hair was bowing in the snow next to a dark haired figure. A woman was just behind him, concern in her eyes. Gray scrunched his eyebrows at the young boy the question was directed to. "Is that… me?"_

_ "Hi, I'm Cana." A girl with long brown hair was smiling at a younger version of Gray._

_ "How is tha-"_

_ "Why are you crying all alone?!"_

_ Gray turned to the new voice. A younger version of Erza was beside the younger version of him._

_ "What did you say, Droopy Eyes?!" A pink haired boy glared at the younger Gray, fists flaming._

_ Gray blinked at all the voices and figures surrounding him. Is this what's like…_

_ "Hi, I'm Lucy."_

_ …to have your eyes flash right before your eyes?_

_ Gray gripped the side of his head as memories flooded his head. It hurt, regaining your entire like in a few seconds. Adding experiences that took a life wait to accomplish to your mind in split seconds. It felt like a hammer smashing against his skull._

_ The images slowed down as he got closer to present day. Images around him faded out until only one remained._

_ Two ghostly figures were face to face, one unmoving, the other fading into the air. The figure disappearing was barely recognizable as Zeref. Gray watched in slight horro as he realized what was happening. Zeref wasn't disappearing. He was _moving_ into him! Magic circled around Gray and the illuminated dark world became less bright._

_ Gray blinked at his suffering form. His hands clenched into fists as he ran towards himself. He reached a hand out to that dark mage, a surge of death magic coming straight from him into the dark mage."I'm not a killer," Gray saw the dark mage's eyes widen and the dark mage crumpled. "But I'm not dying for you."_

* * *

Gray took another sip from his drink, enjoying the cool taste. His left side of his body was heavily bandaged and he couldn't move it if his life depended on it. Wendy had assured him that it would be healed in a few weeks, but to take it easy until then. Erza, Natsu, and Lucy sat next to him at the Fairy Tail bar, laughing and joking in their usual manner. Happy bit eagerly into a fish as Master Makarov sat down next to him and gave his children a proud look.

The celestial mage turned to the elderly man. "So what did the council say?"

Master Makarov took a long sip on the beer Mirajane had just handed him. "Hmm, they're willing to overlook any damage caused due to the outcome."

The group of mages let out a relieved sigh. "What did happen?" Happy asked through a mouthful of fish.

The mages turned to Gray for the answer, Master included. The ice mage shrugged. "No idea. The details are kind of fuzzy. When I woke up Zeref's presence was just gone."

The mages turned back to Makarov, looking for maybe a better answer from the wiser, and slightly perverted, old man. Makarov scratched his chin in thought. "There hasn't been any sign of him. As best as I can figure when Gray defeated Zeref in his mind Zeref's magic returned to him. Only he hadn't had control over it for so long he wasn't able to accept it back, it ended up ending him. His own magic was his own downfall." Stunned gaze's meet the old man's eyes. "Or Gray is a murderer. That works too."

Laughs rose at that. The ice mage gave a snort. "Sure, and Erza hates strawberry cake." The scarlet froze, fork of cake half way to her open and waiting mouth. More laughs rose at that.

"What do you think happened?" Lucy turned directly to Gray.

"Who knows? Something just tells me I didn't kill the bastard. Even though he deserved it. Who the hell tries to steal someone's body?!"

"Especially Gray's." Natsu smirked.

Gray smacked the back of Natsu's head with his good arm. "Flame head, just wait till I'm healed up, then I'll show you what powerful magic looks like."

"Powerful magic my ass. Just you wait. I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"Sure, and when's the last time you took down the strongest mage in history?"

Laughter around the guild became louder at the comment, causing the dragon slayer to sulk. Mirajane smiled at the group of Fairy Tail's strongest mages. She slid a few more glass down the counter to them for their celebration. The joyful glee was a well-known indicator for her that one of the guild's countless galas to the white haired barmaid. They deserved it though. How many guilds could be as proud as this one?


End file.
